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Planning a vacation with a child who is hovering somewhere around legal driving age can be downright daunting. New York City has all the cultural attractions you want to expose your child to, like museums, historical churches and monuments, but your teen may be more interested in what's happening in the streets. It's best to strike a balance and placate this adolescent need for constant buzzing by visiting cultural attractions that appeal to their generation.

Times Square at Night

If you want to see a teenager's eyes go wide and jaw drop open, take him to Times Square after dark. Emerging from a side street or subway station to see the ascending cavalcade of lights and illuminated billboards surrounding the square like so many canyon walls may even make him put down his cell phone for a moment, if only to pick it back up again to take pictures to send to friends back home. Before you start thinking this isn't a place you want to take a youngster after the sun sets, Times Square is no longer the seedy district it once was. Gone are the drug dealers and adult theaters, replaced with a bevy of family-friendly corporate chain stores and restaurants. Even if you don't care to eat or shop here, it's still work gawking at.

The City From the Water

Many teens desire constant movement and sights to see. In New York, one way to give it to them is to get on board a boat and circle the island of Manhattan, which from the water resembles a surreal looking steel and concrete encrusted cake topped with skyscraper icing. Circle Line cruises can provide this opportunity on one of their three-hour cruises. If that's too long to be on a boat with a teenager, take the Staten Island Ferry across New York Harbor and back. It'll take about 90 minutes of your time round-trip and you'll get to see the Statue of Liberty, a great view of the city and not spend one red penny, because the Staten Island Ferry is free. Board the ferry at Whitehall Terminal next to Battery Park in Manhattan. Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises Pier 83, West 42nd St. New York, NY 10036 212-563-3200 circleline42.com

A TV Show from the Studio Audience

Many TV shows are taped or broadcast live from New York City. Some shows that may be popular with both you and your late teen are (minimum age for attendance in parentheses) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (18), Saturday Night Live (16), Late Show with David Letterman (18) and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (17). Tickets for these shows are free and given out in different ways, either by mail, online registration at the show website, and/or standby passes handed out the day of the show. If you can score a ticket, it's one of the best bargains in the city. To witness one of these shows as part of the live studio audience can be exhilarating, even if you aren't a fan to begin with. If traveling with a younger teen, take her on an equally exciting behind-the-scenes tour of the NBC studios in Rockefeller Center (admission is charged).

The View From a Skyscraper

There are two notable skyscrapers with observation platforms that tourists can visit in New York City--the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center. The Empire State Building's two observatories are the highest in the city, located on the 86th and 102nd floor. Top of the Rock, as the Rockefeller Center observatory is known, offers three different viewing areas between the 67th and 70th floors. Both buildings are open into the evening hours for nighttime views of the city. Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10018 212-736-3100 esbnyc.com Top of the Rock 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112 212-698-2000 topoftherocknyc.com

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About the Author

Blake Guthrie covers travel, entertainment and outdoor recreation for many outlets, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he is a regular contributor. With years of experience as a professional cook, Guthrie also relishes writing about food and beverage topics. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communications from Auburn University.